Complete women's and men's results (HTML)
 
PITTSBURGH – You've heard of "Singin' in the Rain," right?
 
Well, Kaylee Mitchell had her own approach to dealing with the slip and the slop through which she ran on Saturday afternoon in Pennsylvania.
 
Call it "Smilin' in the Mud."
 
The Seattle Pacific freshman raced to an All-American 35^th place finish, and the Falcon women were 15^th in the team standings at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships.
 
Running in the most cross country-like of conditions at Schenley Park, Mitchell completed her 6 kilometers in 23 minutes, 24.9 seconds.
 
"The course – oh, my goodness! It was just one step at a time, running in ankle-deep mud," Mitchell said. "I was lucky enough not to fall, but there were many slips. It was just a matter of not letting the mud get to us and just being fearless."
 
"My dad always tells me just to smile," Mitchell added. "I went into it telling myself, 'Just run. You know how to run, and just smile.'"
 
By placing in the top 40, Mitchell became the 17^th cross country All-American in school history. The last Falcon runner to earn that honor was Jessica Pixler in 2009 when she won the third of her three straight national titles.

 

"Getting All-American in cross country is incredibly hard to do," SPU assistant coach / distance coach Chris Reed said. "For her to do that in her first NCAA meet and her first college season shows her maturity and the belief she has in herself."
 
Seattle Pacific checked in with 466 points, putting it into the upper half of the 34-team field. It was the second straight    top-15 finish for the team. The Falcons also grabbed that spot in 2015 when the race was in Joplin, Mo.
 
"There are already enough factors as it is, with it being December, it's the national championships, and it's a long season for a lot of teams," Reed said. "Then add in the elements, which made it a really hard, tough, slow course.

"To come through all of those variables and still have a really good team finish is awesome. We finished pretty close to where we were ranked coming in (No. 13), so it was unquestionably a successful season."
 
MOVING UP THROUGH THE PACK
The already-muddy course was made even muddier after 261 men ran five loops around it in their 10K race (the women did three loops). And, while the rain held off for most of the men's race, it was drizzling shortly before the women started, and pouring by the time the gun went off.
 
 

Mitchell was back in the mid-70s of the 264-runner field as they passed the first timing pad on the course, located at the 700-meter mark. By the 1.8-kilometer mark, she had moved all the way up to 31^st, and stayed within that cluster of runners for the rest of the day.
 
Through the remaining 4 kilometers, Mitchell moved up as high as 29^th, and dropped back to as far 39^th before coming through the wire in 35^th.
 
 
 

"I didn't want to go out too fast, with it being so muddy and with all the hills," Mitchell said. "After I got through the first loop, I thought, 'OK, all of this is do-able' There wasn't a part of it where I thought 'Oh my gosh, I'm going to fall.' By the third loop, I knew where to step and where not to step."
 
Added Reed, "She wanted to run a controlled early part of the race. Once she got into her own rhythm, she could decide what to do with it. She moved up to an All-American spot and never let go."
 
Junior Katherine Walter was No. 2 for the Falcons on Saturday, placing 85^th overall in her first national competition of any kind. Junior Kate Lilly, who took the early lead in the race, was No. 3 for the team and 120^th overall. Rounding out the top five scorers were freshman Krystal Kaufman (136^th) and sophomore Dania Holmberg (176^th).
 
Grand Valley State of Michigan won the women's team title with 41 points, well ahead of runner-up University of Mary (83). That gave the Lakers a team sweep, as the men also won, edging Colorado Mines, 89-99.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- Mitchell's 35^th place was the highest by a Falcon since Katie Thralls took 44^th in 2012.
-- Walter had a rough start, tripping over one of the runners, and was in 184^th place at the 700-meter pad. Between then and the finish, she picked off 99 runners for her final place of 85^th.
-- Kaufman's No. 4 finish for the team was her best. Her only other scoring race was as the No. 5 runner at the Western Washington Classic on Oct. 20.
-- This was Seattle Pacific's 17^th NCAA meet and its 20^th nationals overall.
-- It was the first national meet for all of the Falcons except Kate Lilly, who ran at NCAA indoor track in March and outdoor track in May.
 
UP NEXT
Cross country is in the books for another year, so all attention now shifts to indoor track and field. The first meet for the Falcons is Saturday, Jan. 12, at the UW Indoor Preview. An official starting time has yet to be announced.

 
NCAA WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
NCAA Division II Championships
Saturday, Dec. 1, 2018
6 kilometers at Schenley Park / Pittsburgh, Pa.
 
Team scores – 1, Grand Valley State 41; 2, University of Mary 83; 3, Adams State 90; 4, Western Colorado 98; 5, Colorado Mines 252; 6, Alaska Anchorage 255; 7, Michigan Tech 288; 8, Chico state 300; 9, Simon Fraser 342; 10, Queens (N.C.) 418; 11, UC Colorado Springs 436; 12, Walsh 445; 13, Pittsburg State 449; 14, Stonehill 449 (Pittsburg gets higher place on tiebreaker); 15, Seattle Pacific 466; 16, Oklahoma Baptist 484; 17, Black Hills State 485; 18, Augustana (S.D.) 503; 19, Hillsdale 511; 20, Western Washington 525; 21, Roberts Wesleyan 532; 22, Metro State 585; 23, Edinboro 589; 24, Dallas Baptist 623; 25, Point Loma Nazarene 642; 26, California (Pa.) 651; 27, Merrimack 668; 28, Shippensburg 670; 29, Lee (Tenn.) 674; 30, Embry Riddle 677; 31, Flagler 701; 32, Southwest Baptist 731; 33, Anderson (S.C.) 749; 34, Union (Tenn.) 1117.
 
Top 10 – 1, Sarah Berger (Grand Valley) 22:07.7; 2, Elisa Flanagan (Adams State) 22:12.4; 3, Emily Roberts (U Mary) 22:15.5; 4, Alicja Konieczek (W. Colo.) 22:30.4; 5, Allie Ludge (Grand Valley) 22:39.7; 6, Hanna Groeber (Grand Valley) 22:40.6; 7, Leah Hanle (Mount Olive) 22:50.8; 8, Kayla Wooten (UC Colo. Spr.) 22:51.2; 9, Gina Patterson (Grand Valley) 22:53.3; 10, Eileen Stressling (Azusa Pacific) 22;54.4.
 
SPU placers – 35, Kaylee Mitchell 23:24.9; 85, Katherine Walter 24:18.4; 120, Kate Lilly 24:32.6; 136, Krystal Kaufman 24:46.7; 176, Dania Holmberg 25:26.1; 204, Sedona McNerney 25:46.5; 218, Elizabeth Thompson 26:06.6.